Monday, March 12, 2007

Giving The Seafood Peddler another chance

We have eaten at The Seafood Peddler on several occasions, but we either got bad service or the food sucked, or both. Since we are more into seafood now, we are always looking for a good place. Saturday night, my husband suggested The Seafood Peddler, so I agreed and decided to see if they can redeem themselves.

I'm happy to say that they did. Upon entering, we were hesitantly greeted by 2 hostesses who kind of ignored us at first, but then told us there would be a short wait. No problem, we were seated by the window in the main room and I don't believe we've ever been in the main room before, so I was happy. Our waitress, who's name I didn't get (pre-blog idea) was very friendly and attentive...always a plus for me since I used to waitress my way through college and believe in good service.

We ordered the Crispy Fried Calamari and Steamed Littleneck Clams for our appetizers. Our daughter, Bella, was with us and she loves this stuff. The clams were good-not too big, not too small. The broth was good, not too salty like I've had before, and it came with 2 garlic toast points, which were also good. The Calamari was served with "marinara fra' diavolo" sauce and tartar sauce. Also good, not greasy at all.

I ordered the Iceberg Wedge, which was more like half of a head, and it was served with bacon crumbles, red onion, some diced hard boiled egg, and way too much bleu cheese dressing, which was also on the watery side. I could have done without the bacon and egg, but the ingredients were fresh and I ate my fair share. My perfect idea of an Iceberg Wedge is the wedge, crumbly bleu cheese dressing-not too much-, some red onion slices, maybe a little tomato, and then I like to add a lot of pepper. Ruths Chris makes a perfect wedge. So does Flemings (coming this summer to Walnut Creek and I can't wait!!).

For my entree, I ordered the Sesame Seared Ahi Tuna from the appetizer section of the menu. The fish was fresh and very tender, and was served with avocado and mango slices fanned out on top of a bed of greens and a lite vinaigrette. Very delicious! I'm not a fan of mango, but my husband is and he loved the dish as well.

Speaking of my husband, he ordered the nut (macadamia? pecan? we can't remember!) encrusted Mahi Mahi off of their daily specials menu, which they seem to update frequently on their website, which is appreciated. His fish was light and moist, and was served on top of very yummy Wasabi Mashed Potatoes.

I have no idea how we ended up doing such a dis-service to our daughters, but neither one of them has ever had Fish and Chips. Nor have they had a fish stick! But they eat clams and calamari. Go figure. Anyway, because Bella refused to try the Fish and Chips or anything else on the kids menu, and because I wanted to try it, we allowed her to order the Petrale Sole Picatta. It was sauteed in butter, lemon, and capers--as it should be!--and served over a bed of garlic mashed potatoes. It was equally delish.

It's kind of funny that I am doing my first official review on The Seafood Peddler and I'm very surprised at what a good experience it was. I'm glad I gave it another chance and it didn't let me down. It isn't every day that you get good food AND very good service, but on Saturday, that is what we got!

1 comment:

Anonymous
said...

You were right the first time. The Seafood Peddler DOES suck. We went recently and had a terrible experience. The food was not at all what we expected and the service was a joke. It was if amateurs were running the restaurant. Needless to say, I would definitely tell people to steer clear of this restaurant. There are far more better places to go.